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e~i~ ~ iii ~~.~~: <br />~ ay, gust 6, 2 ~ ~ ~ 7 <br />ale 6 <br />City Attorney Jay Squires expanded on Chief Sletner's comment, cit- <br />ing Minnesota State Statute Chapter 13 regarding public data prac- <br />tices; and the City's obligation to respond, within a short period of <br />time, to provide requested data, which served as the source of infor- <br />mation in this case. <br />Councilmember Pust opined the importance of allowing people access <br />to what their government was doing, even when that information ~~nay <br />create difficult situations, it still remained vital that the information be <br />available to the public. <br />Additional discussion and comment ensued among Council~nembers. <br />Police Chief Sletner clarified that the reason for the stop was an ap- <br />parent equipment violation; that contraband had been discovered in <br />the vehicle that could have caused charges to be filed; however, the <br />officer had used his discretion not to pursue charges. Chief Sletner <br />clarified that there were no charges filed against the evidence or <br />driver. <br />b. Roy Garza, father of teenage driver of car in question and under <br />discussion <br />Mr. Garza opined that the issue was not about Ms. Delmore, but about <br />the Police Department. Mr. Garza observed that no one was detained, <br />no arrests were made; and questioned why the car was stopped. Mr. <br />Garza expressed concern with living in a community where vehicles <br />were stopped for no apparent reason; and thus opined that racial pro- <br />filing may be an issue, as raised by Ms. Delmore. <br />Mr. Garza suggested that there were two policy issues: <br />1) Is it a policy of the Police Department to stop people with no prob- <br />able cause; and <br />2) Is it a policy of the Police Department to comment on those issues <br />when no charges were filed? Mr. Garza used past criminal investi- <br />gations of former City Manager Neal Beets and the Police Depart- <br />ment's policy of "no comment" when questioned by reporters; and <br />asked why that same policy wasn't followed in this case, and the <br />Police Department had chosen to comment and to provide an <br />analysis of the issue. <br />